Contactor



March 17, 1942. V L, QE CE 2,276,698

,GONTACTOR I Filed Se t. 30, 1939 WITNESSES: 39 1 lNV ENTOR 4/ Zawrence P/erce;

ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 17, 1942 CONTACTOR Lawrence Pierce, Edgewood, Pa., assignor to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application September 30, 1939, Serial No. 297,291

3 Claims.

This invention relates to contactors, and particularly to contactors of the type in which a single electromagnet is employed to control the opening or closing of a plurality of circuits by means of the operation of switches and contacts controlled by the energization or deenergization, as the case may be, of the electromagnet.

One object of the invention is to provide a construction in which all of the contacts are disposed to be readily accessible for inspection, for connections, for renewals, and for reversal in operation from make to break or vice versa.

Another object of my invention is to provide a simple and economical construction in which there is a maximum number of identical parts, and in which the parts are to be so disposed as to permit of relatively simple and quick assembly and disassembly.

A contactor constructed in accordance with the principles of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of a contactor provided with the novel switching contacts;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the movable upper contact assembly shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of a different arrangement of the movable contact assembly shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing separately the essential elements utilized in Figs. 1, 2 and 3; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a modification of the seating clip, or keeper.

As illustrated in Fig. l a circuit controlling device or a contactor comprises generally a back or base plate 2, on the front face of which is mounted an electromagnetic structure 3 to operate a movable assembly 4 supporting a plurality of bridging contacts 5 to control the making or breaking of a circuit between associated stationary contact members 6 and I that are mounted in suitable position upon stationary platform bracket 8-of insulating material that is fixedly secured to the base 2 in operative relation to the movable member 4.

Disposed at the upper end is a stationary contact platform bracket 9 of the same construction as the lower platform 8, and a movable contact assembly In, including movable bridging contacts II and I2 that are to engage stationary contacts I! and I4 and I5 and I6, respectively, on the upper bracket 9, is provided. The upper contact assembly I0 is the same as the lower contact assembly 4, and is fixedly secured to the lower contact assembly 4 by two parallel vertical frames or posts In order to hold the magnet structure in place, the base plate 2 is provided with two forwardly pressed lugs I8, forwardly spaced from the front face of the base 2 to serve as seats and to receive supporting side frames l9 constituting a laterally extending side extension of confining plates 20 between which one set of stamped laminations 2| of substantially C-shape are held together to constitute the electromagnetic field structure of the electromagnet 3. The C-shaped laminations are so positioned that the gap appears in the lower side of the laminations. The upper corners of the side frames l9 are provided with openings disposed to be aligned with similar threaded openings in the base 2 to receive fastening bolts 22, to secure the stationary magnet structure to the base plate 2.

The confining frames and laminations are provided with an opening to receive an energizing coil 23 for the electromagnetic structure 3,

The coil 23 when energized breaks the contacts at contact members 5, 6 and l, and H, l3 and I4 and closes the contacts atcontact members |2, I5 and I6.

' Each of the movable contact assemblies 4 and I0, shown more in detail in Figs. 2 and 3, comprise a substantially rectangular contact supporting bar 24 of insulating material, preferably molded to receive the movable contact assembly.

A contact frame 25 is fixedly secured to the surface of the contact supporting bar 2 in the recesses 26. The frames'25 are of substantially U-shape in cross-section and extend substantially the full width of the contact bar 24. The side walls 21 and 28 of the contact frames 25 are provided with openings 29 and 30 of substantially rectangular shape. The walls serve as confining guides for floating bridging contacts 3 I. The bridging contacts 3| extend longitudinally through the channel space in the contact frame 25, and each bridging contact is provided with two laterally extending side portions 32 and 33 of suitable dimensions to fit freely in the openings 29 and 30 in the side walls of the frame 25. A helical spring 34 is disposed between the inner surface of the web 35 of the channel 25 and the back surface of the bridging contact 3| to serve as a biasing spring to bias the bridging contact 3| to its outermost position in the openings 29 and 30 of the contact frame.

The outer ends of the floating bridging contact member 3| are provided, with contacts 36 and 31 of suitable low resistance material to engage similar stationary contact points, such as 6 and l, or I and I6 mounted on the stationary platform brackets 8 and 9, respectively.

When the bridging contact 3| is to be reversed in its operation, the contact member 3| is reversed inthe frame, as shown in Fig. 3, so that its contact points 36 and 31 will face in the opposite direction, and the biasing spring 34 is then held in proper position behind the bridging contact member 3| by means of a seating clip or keeper 38, which is made as shown in Fig. 4 to fit between the side walls of the contact frame and to embody portions extending into the guide openings 29 and 30 in the side walls of the contact frame 25. A seating clip 39 shown in Fig. 5 is a modification of seating clip 38 showing how the end portions 40 and Al may be bent, if desired, so that the seating clip may be inserted through opening 29 or 30 when assembling the contact members.

The stationary contact members as l5 and is which are to be engaged or disengaged by the bridging contact members on the contact bar 24 of the movable member are mounted in correspondingly spaced positions on the platform brackets 8 and 9. The brackets 8 and 9 are made of any suitable insulating material, and are preferably molded to insure exact similarity of dimensions in all bracket units.

My invention is not limited to the specific details of construction that are illustrated, since they may be variously modified Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an electric switch, in combination, a pair of stationary contact members, a pair of parallel plates having aligned guides of a given length, a bar having contact members at its opposite ends for bridging the stationary contact members said bar being so constructed at its mid-portion to engage the guides to thus be limited and guided in its movement over the length of the guides, a keeper plate similar in structure to the bar at its mid-portion and adapted to be selectively disposed at either end of the guides, resilient means disposed between the keeper plate and the bar to thus resiliently bias the bar to the end of the guide ways opposite to that end at which the keeper plate is' positioned, and means for operating the plates in one direction whereby the interconnection between the stationary contact members may either be made or broken depending on the end of the guides at which the keeper is positioned.

2. In an electric switch, in combination, a pair of stationary contact members, a bar having contact members at its ends for electrically connecting said stationary contact members, a pair of parallel plates having guide ways of a given length in the faces thereof, means on the bar engaging the guide ways whereby the bar is guided and limited in its movement on the platesover the length of the guide ways, a keeper having means thereon also engaging the guide ways whereby the keeper is also guided and limited in its movement on the plates over the length of the guide ways, resilient means disposed between the keeper and the bar to thus resiliently bias the keeper and bar to opposite ends of the guide ways, and means for moving the plates toward or away from the stationary contact members, whereby said contact members at the ends of the bar may resiliently engage the stationary contact members when the plates are moved toward the contact members, and to disengage the stationary contact members when the plates are moved away from the stationary contact members.

3. In an electric switch, in combination, a pair of spaced stationary contact members that are to be electrically connected, a main bar disposed substantially at right angles and to one side of the line joining the stationary contact members, means for operating said main bar toward said contact members and away from said contact members depending on the direction of operation of the main bar, a pair of parallel plates secured to the main bar and disposed in planes substantially parallel to the line joining the stationary contact members, said plates having aligned windows in the faces thereof, an elongated bar having contact faces at its opposite ends and a flat face in the middle thereof between the contact faces, said fiat "face being provided with projections at each edge to fit into the windows of the parallel plates whereby the elongated bar is guided and limited in movement by the projections and windows over the length of the windows, a generally rectangular keeper having reentrant cuts at its corners disposed to fit between the plates and having the portions at the reentrant cuts to engage the plates at the edges of said windows whereby the keeper is guided and limited in its movements over the length of-the windows, and a spring disposed between the keeper and the elongated bar, whereby actuation of the main bar causes the contact faces at the ends of the elongated bar to resiliently engage the stationary contact members.

- LAWRENCE PIERCE. 

